U N T Defense Is The Worst, And It's Not Even Close

MeanGreen61 · November 12, 2007

Brett Vito: UNT defense is the worst, and it's not even close

11:49 PM CST on Sunday, November 11, 2007

In what is quickly becoming an all-too-familiar scenario, history was made when North Texas faced Navy on Saturday.

And no, we are not talking about the remarkable performance of the Mean Green’s offense and quarterback Giovanni Vizza, who is putting together one of the best seasons by a freshman in UNT history.

These marks were set against UNT’s defense in a 74-62 loss:

The Midshipmen scored touchdowns on eight straight possessions, rushed for a school-record 572 yards and scored more points than they in a game had since 1919.

UNT's performance on defense left head coach Todd Dodge searching for answers, a process that will continue this week when the Mean Green tries to figure out why it is 1-8 with statistically the worst defense in the country.

The Mean Green is allowing 49.6 points a game, the highest total among the NCAA's Bowl Subdivision teams. Rice ranks No. 118 nationally -- one spot ahead of the Mean Green -- and is allowing 42.2 points a game.

That's right, UNT is allowing 7.4 more points a game than the next worst defensive team in the country.

“I don’t have a whole lot of answers right now until I see the tape,” Dodge said of his team’s defensive performance after the Navy game. “There are a lot of different things that can go wrong. There were a few times early in the game when we made plays, but we didn’t make enough.”

No matter where Dodge's search takes him, it won’t end in a place he or anyone else on the Mean Green’s staff wants to be with three games left in the season. When UNT started its campaign, Dodge said he expected his team’s defense to be its strength.

It never has been.

Oklahoma hung 79 points on the Mean Green. Arkansas bashed UNT for 66, and now Navy goes off for 74. And don’t forget, the Midshipmen kneeled on the ball at the end of the night at UNT’s 11-yard line to kill the clock.

The Midshipmen could have scored 80 if they had pressed the issue, while making it all the more obvious that UNT has pressing issues.

The Mean Green started out the season with nine returning starters on a defense that allowed 25.3 points a game a year ago. Several of those players have been passed over late in the year for highly regarded young talents, including redshirt freshman linebacker Craig Robertson and sophomore defensive end Eddrick Gilmore.

Those switches aren't helping, and that can mean only one of two things: Either UNT doesn’t have the talent it thought it did, or it isn’t getting the most out of what it has.

Neither conclusion is an inviting one.

UNT will lose most of its top defensive players at the end of the season, including defensive end Jeremiah Chapman and safety Aaron Weathers.

The top freshmen UNT recruited to play on its defense, including linebacker A.J. Penson, have already made their debut, and only a handful of redshirt freshmen are waiting to step in next year.

The Mean Green could look for help in its 2008 recruiting class, but only has three players committed who are projected to play on its defense.

The other explanation for UNT’s struggles might be even tougher to take. The majority of UNT's defensive coaches don't have experience at on the NCAA's Bowl Subdivision level. The idea that a lack of major college experience among the defensive staff is hurting UNT’s defense isn’t exactly a new concept.

There has been talk of it all year.

UNT has some coaches who don't have experience on the college level on offense as well, but it hasn't made a difference with Dodge running the show. The former Texas quarterback was a successful passing game coordinator at UNT back in the early 1990s, and he has made great offensive progress with the Mean Green this season.

UNT ranks eighth in passing offense nationally with an average of 317.9 yards a game and is averaging 25.0 points a game, nearly double last year's total of 12.8 points a game.

UNT’s defense, on the other hand, has taken a big step back – a 20-plus-points-a-game step back – after allowing 25.3 points a game last season.

At some point the question has to be asked: Does the problem rest at least in some ways with UNT’s coaching staff? Coaches all need time to adjust to working on a new level.

UNT knew that growing pains were going to be a part of the deal when it decided to hire Dodge, who has not made his defensive coaches available to the media all season.

At this point, those pains are becoming awfully sharp. UNT is being torched on a weekly basis. It’s costing the Mean Green games and who knows how much more in terms of recruits and support.

UNT has played great offensively lately.

Dodge has pointed to that success as a sign of progress and should be commended for what he has accomplished.

But at some point all that offensive production needs to turn into wins. Reaching that goal is going to be hard to do when your defense is giving up more than seven points more than any other team in the country.

Dodge set about the task of finding UNT's problems late last night. No matter what conclusion he comes to, it’s bound to be a painful discovery for UNT’s first-year head coach.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

SilverEagle · November 12, 2007

"Dodge set about the task of finding UNT's problems late last night."

With all due respect to coach Dodge, and that respect is considerable on my part, he should have started this "finding" process much sooner (pun intended) in the year.

Edited November 12, 2007 by SilverEagle

yyz28 · November 12, 2007

GREAT article by Vito. Well done!

island eagle · November 12, 2007

GREAT article by Vito. Well done!

I REALLY, REALLY want Todd Dodge to succeed. But, that is not going to happen unless something dramatic happens on the defensive side of the ball. We could score a 100 points a game and still be losing with the defensive alignments and lack of adjustments that we have now.

I would feel MUCH better if I actually saw more quality commitments on the defensive side. And If (after the season) Dodge brings in some experienced coaches on defense. Our offense can work.

We desperately need help on the defense. I would be selling the fact that any defensive recruits will have a good chance to come in and start right away. We ought to be recruiting 2 defensive players for every 1 offensive player for next year.

yyz28 · November 12, 2007

We ought to be recruiting 2 defensive players for every 1 offensive player for next year.

With Mendoza here, you will never get these numbers. No good D player is going to come play for this guy. His coaching style, his inability to build a scheme, his record is just going to make kids say "No thanks..."

UNT Mean Green · November 12, 2007

I feel that recruiting defensive players out of high school and junior college could be a two way street right now in terms of recruit's mindsets:

1) I don't want to go play for the worst defense in the country.

2) Since they do have the worst defense in the country, my chances of getting early playing time are probably pretty high.

Some kids favor the later.

SilverEagle · November 12, 2007

Ok, the latest "Recruiter Insider" is in the ST this morning. In the "Area 50" list 5 out of the 8 DL prospects are "undecided".

Out of those 5, I would like to put two players on my early recruiting shopping list.

Hector Negrete, Arlington Sequin, 6'3" X 280

Robert Griddin, Euless Trinity, 6'7" X 328

UNT Mean Green · November 12, 2007

Eulessismore can tell you about Robert Griffin. Big ol' kid!

And your shopping list is not early! It's late if we're just getting on these kids.

Edited November 12, 2007 by UNT Mean Green

RETSO · November 12, 2007

JUCO has to be the answer on defense....we will have NOTHING next year on D if we dont.

MeanGreenEngineer · November 12, 2007

Vito is showing some STUNNINGLY big cojones here.

He is a beat writer, calling out the coaches of the team he is covering.

Anyone remember when Tim MacMahon called out the offensive line and their coaches a few years ago? Weeks later he was "promoted" to covering area high school for the Morning News.

soccerguy59 · November 12, 2007

What do you think the Navy DC is thinking, we just had 62 put on us.

Green Lantern · November 12, 2007

What do you think the Navy DC is thinking, we just had 62 put on us.

Reading the Navy board...the exact same thing that all Mean Green fans are thinking. That the defense is unacceptable at the D1 level. We need to do something to fix it.

UNT Mean Green · November 12, 2007

Well, if he reads the Navy message boards, then he is hiring a real estate agent to list his home...he's gone!

Call me crazy but, I'll say this, I don't think Navy will want to schedule us again. I think Coach Johnson could see that if we get a halfway decent defense, we should blow mid-major teams, even bowl eligible teams out in a few years. I wish they would, but I don't see it happening.

unt88 · November 12, 2007

JUCO has to be the answer on defense....we will have NOTHING next year on D if we dont.

and there is nothing wrong with JUCO defesive players IE Antonio Pierce, Chris Mcallister came from the same JUCO I played for and look at them now.

The Fake Lonnie Finch · November 12, 2007

Brett Vito: UNT defense is the worst, and it's not even close
At some point the question has to be asked: Does the problem rest at least in some ways with UNT’s coaching staff? Coaches all need time to adjust to working on a new level.
UNT knew that growing pains were going to be a part of the deal when it decided to hire Dodge, who has not made his defensive coaches available to the media all season.
BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Three things:

(1) Coaches only need time to adjust to a new level if they're on a new level! If Dodge and RV had taken the time to interview candidates with experience at this level, and hired someone with experience, there wouldn't be any "adjustment" needed. It makes me think those two were naive about the difference between high school and college ball.

(2) Of the two guys on the defensive side of the ball with some experience, one had been out of coaching for over a decade (LaCroix), and the other was a QB coach/offensive coordinator for an wishbone-based offense (Peterson from Air Force). So, even the two guys he brought in with some experience, neither had recent experience with coaching defenses. Again...a naive move?

(3) It's good that Dodge isn't letting the defensive coaches talk to the media. We already know from the DC's actions after the Louisiana-Monroe game that he can't handle criticism and would be unlikely to be able to face any line of questioning other than 'What did you have for breakfast?' or 'How does it feel to have a bigger paycheck?' Dodge should keep the defensive coaches behind his skirt where they belong until they produce consistently good results.

Edited November 12, 2007 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

KBJ · November 12, 2007

What do you think the Navy DC is thinking, we just had 62 put on us.

He made adjustments at half time and held us to 214 yards. You may think that is nothing but it is less than half of what we had in the first half. We made adjustments and held them to 241 yards in the second half also half the yardage they had in the first half.

pollock · November 12, 2007

Vito is showing some STUNNINGLY big cojones here.
He is a beat writer, calling out the coaches of the team he is covering.

I was a little surprised (pleasantly) to read it, but to say it takes stunningly big cajones to point out the obvious is overrating.

At this point, I'm not even that worked up over the defense. I fully believe that the DC will be replaced at the end of the season. It couldn't be more obvious when you consider the factors that have been mentioned here over and over again.

I just hate it for the players, on both offense and defense. Which feeling is worse-- scoring 62 points as an offensive player and losing, or allowing 74 points as a defensive player?

Phil Bennett would be a great hire, if he's willing. Someone mentioned on the Fire Mendoza thread that DeLoach might be available at the end of the year - hopefully RV still has his number.

November 12, 2007

I'm thinking like Pollock; I think that the DC has to be replaced at season's end. I know that it will be distasteful to Coach Dodge, but we simply can't afford another season of poor performance while trying to tolerate a learning curve. No recruit worth his salt would want to take that on; early play or not.

I'm wondering why the other defensive coaches didn't have input into the Navy game plan.

Coach Peterson should have been invaluable. He is a former safety and has faced Navy numerous times while he was at Air Force. In fact, the Air Force offense was quite a bit like Navy's. That's kind of telling to me in that it would seem that Mendoza won't ask for help from his assistants or won't heed their advice if given.

I find it extremely hard to believe that the talent level on our defense is much, if any, below that of everyone that we've played this year, save Oklahoma and maybe Arkansas. If a coach has talent that is in the ballpark of his opponent's and is still giving up huge chunks of yardage and points and they're not, there's only one answer.

gangrene · November 12, 2007

What do you think the Navy DC is thinking, we just had 62 put on us.

I don't know about the Navy DC, but the HC had this comment in the ESPN story:

"There wasn't a whole lot of defense being played on either side. Look at them, they scored 62 and they lost," Navy coach Paul Johnson said.

I don't think this is just the worst defense of this season....I think we've got to be considered for the worst defense in the history of NCAA D-1A football. The performance by our defense this year is truly embarrassing. Call me old-fashioned, but I subscribe to the theory that "defense wins championships"...if we are to expect our future football scores to be 50, 60 and 70 points for both teams (only winning or losing by 10 points) than I guess I need to find myself a new UNT sport to support. 74-62 is just ridiculous and makes a mockery of the sport...that's not football as it was meant to be played. Maybe we could move indoors and get the NCAA to sanction collegiate arena football?

greenminer · November 12, 2007

Heck no! I expect future scores to be 72-0. Goose eggs across the board!

Censored by Laurie · November 12, 2007

Do we lead the country in safties?

untbowler · November 12, 2007

Do we lead the country in safties?

how about allowing opposing punters to pen us inside our own 5 yd line. Swear we are a punters *** dream as of late.

ntexeagle · November 12, 2007

how about allowing opposing punters to pen us inside our own 5 yd line. Swear we are a punters *** dream as of late.

The punt that pinned us inside our 5 yard line was luck, pure and simple. The punter was attempting to fake the punt and run. He got a lucky kick off on a dead run to his right.

No coach would have been happy to see a player around that ball. 95 times out of 100 that ball goes into the end zone. The punt return made the correct decision it was simply a bad luck situation.

island eagle · November 12, 2007

The punt that pinned us inside our 5 yard line was luck, pure and simple. The punter was attempting to fake the punt and run. He got a lucky kick off on a dead run to his right.
No coach would have been happy to see a player around that ball. 95 times out of 100 that ball goes into the end zone. The punt return made the correct decision it was simply a bad luck situation.

Yes, lets not be mindlessly critical. The punt receiver had moved up to help out against the possible run (as he should) and then backed up when the kick occurred. He had a very bad angle and would have had to field the punt over his shoulder inside the 10 with two defenders racing in on him. He ABSOLUTELY made the right decision.

houstonmeangreen · November 12, 2007

JUCO has to be the answer on defense....we will have NOTHING next year on D if we dont.

RETSO RATSO is right. We will have too much of a high powered offense next year to get blown out on defense...Folks, were going to have some tough games in the next few years (like we have had in the previous) to not get this defense tuned up with (1) juco players and (2)new DC.